South Africa's top court bars repeat asylum applications

South Africa's highest court has ruled that foreign nationals cannot reapply for asylum once their application has been rejected.

The Constitutional Court said that allowing unlimited repeat applications without proper legislation in place could create a "never-ending cycle", preventing deportations and causing administrative chaos.

Leon Schreiber, the minister of home affairs in South Africa's coalition government, welcomed the ruling as a "major victory" against the "abuse" of the refugee system.

The ruling ends a long-running case that was brought by two nationals from Burundi, who reapplied for asylum in 2018 after their applications were rejected in 2014.

The two argued that their new applications should be considered as Burundi had been hit by political violence during the 2015 presidential election.

At least 70 people were killed in unrest after then-President Pierre Nkurunziza took the controversial decision to run for a third term.

The Burundians won the case in the Supreme Court of Appeal, but, in a majority judgement, the Constitutional Court overturned its ruling. It is the final court of appeal.

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) says that in 2025, South Africa was hosting more than 167,000 refugees and asylum seekers, primarily from Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, South Sudan, Rwanda and Zimbabwe.

Schreiber called the ruling important for government efforts to bring about a more "effective and fair system to manage refugees and asylum seekers".

Speaking to local broadcaster Newzroom Afrika, he explained that the Department of Home Affairs led the argument against the Supreme Court of Appeal's ruling.

If upheld, it would have allowed individuals "multiple bites at the cherry" and to "constantly abuse the system" by submitting new applications, Schreiber said.

The minister is a member of the Democratic Alliance (DA), the second-biggest party in the coalition government led by President Cyril Ramaphosa of the African National Congress (ANC).

South Africa has recently been hit by a wave of protests against undocumented migrants, with thousands taking to the streets in major cities to demand mass deportations.

Several African governments have raised concerns with the African Union, and warned their citizens in South Africa about possible attacks.

Earlier this week, Ramaphosa said "opportunists" had orchestrated anti-immigrant attacks on foreigners.

"The recent violent protests and criminal acts directed at foreign nationals in parts of our country do not represent the views of South Africa's people nor reflect our government's policy," he said in an open letter.

South Africa is home to about 2.4 million migrants, just less than 4% of the population, according to official figures, although many more are thought to be in the country unofficially.

As Africa's most-industrialised country, people from across the continent travel to the South Africa to seek work.